On The Cards
by Rue Dawn
Summary: Emmalyn James comes to live with her cousin Caroline when her father finally succumbs to cancer. Happy about seeing her cousin and american friends again will she find more than comfort whilst moving on? In a town filled with secrets and magic can she truly be normal? How do the original family know her? It seems destiny has her cards set for a bumpy ride. Kol/OC Klaus/Caroline ect
1. Prologue: Arrival

_Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it._

_George Santayana (1863 - 1952)_

* * *

Emmalyn pushed her hair out of her face, smiling as the purple colour glinted from underneath her blonde tresses. She finally drew the car to a stop outside her cousin's house and let her head fall back in her seat. It had certainly worn her out. England was a long journey away from Mystic Falls Virginia and she was glad she had thought to buy a car and have her aunt leave it at the airport. Groaning loudly she unclicked her seatbelt and half-heartedly pushed her door open. Stretching she sighed, and watched her sea-blue eyes glint in the wing-mirror, time to move.

Her aching feet hit the floor with a thump and she winced, 'Yeah,' she thought, 'that's what comes from a lot of travel.' She slammed the door of the car and made her way to the boot, her muscles groaned in protest as she lifted her large suitcase and clunked it to the front porch.

Fumbling with the key she finally managed to get the door open and heave her suitcase inside. As the door banged shut behind her she tripped and landed on top of her suitcase.

"Yep, here is good." She said sleepily.

A piece of paper floated of the table and landed on Emmalyn's head. She snatched it grumpily and as her eyes scanned the page she let out a loud groan.

'Em, put your stuff in the guest room…well I guess it's your room now… sorry 'bout that…but on the plus side it's nice! And meet me at the grill please? I can't wait to see you! Even though… yanno with everything… urgh… I'm not good at this. See you there! Caroline.'

Well. At least her cousin hadn't changed much.

Fifteen minutes of grumbling later Emmalyn found herself sat outside the grill attempting to find the willpower to leave her car.

"URGH!" She groaned once more as she heaved herself out and locked her car, sleepily heading into the busy hang-out spot.

Emmalyn had barely lifted her head to look for her cousin when she was smothered by a tall blonde blur. She vaguely registered she was receiving a hug and managed to drape her arms around the blur before it pulled back.

"EMMIE! I'm so glad to see you! How are you? Sorry stupid question. You must be upset, and tired and oh my god, how brilliant is it that you get to live with me now? I mean it's not but it is right? And its super cool that you've already finished school, well by England standards although I suppose you can go back if you want yeah? Upsetting you're not old enough to drink here though... I suppose you got used to that!" Caroline rambled on caught up in her monologue as her cousin sleepily rubbed her eyes.

"Hey Care, awesome to see you too, can we sit down?"

The tall blonde looked down at her cousin and best friend. "Of course you must be so tired come here." She replied happily dragging her cousin by the hand to the table her friends occupied.

"You know, Elena and Bonnie and Matt and Tyler and Jeremy right? Well this is Stefan and Damon." She said pointing out the two new faces as the tired girl plopped into her seat.

She made a pathetic attempt at a wave and plopped her head onto the table. The group gave a slight chuckle and conversation flowed around, Emmalyn not paying any attention until it stopped.

"Who's the new friend then love?" A British voice questioned.

"None of your business Klaus." Damon (… was it? Emmalyn couldn't be sure) answered.

"Yeah just go away." Care joined in.

"Yeah piss off Klaus." Emmalyn muttered into the table.

"It's not wise to insult me love." He replied.

Emmalyn groggily lifted her head. "Don't care." She muttered, before frowning.

Klaus looked entirely shell-shocked. "Emmie?" He stuttered.

"Do I know you? She asked equally confused.

He seemed to regain his facial composure at this. "My family will be glad to see you again." He smirked before turning and walking away. "We'll be in touch." He yelled back.

"Don't care." Emmalyn repeated again dropping her head onto the table once more.

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**Short I know but what did you think? **

**Should I continue? **

**I'm really finding it hard to get muses going for my other stories but this will not stop bugging me!**

**Please review. I'd like to know what you all think!**

**Rue.**


	2. Chapter 1: Quality Time

_The past is strapped to our backs. We do not have to see it, we can always feel it._

_-Mignon McLaughlin in " The Neurotic's Notebook" of nineteen sixty._

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Emmalyn thought a lot about her encounter with that 'Klaus' guy in the next couple of days, while settling into life in her cousins house. In between mourning her father and catching up with her cousin, she couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her.

Of course Caroline had asked, and she had replied honestly, Emmalyn had no recollection of ever seeing the man before in her life, let alone did she know his family. This seemed to be good enough for Caroline who quickly assured her that Klaus was 'a creep' and Emmalyn shouldn't worry for another second. He just liked freaking people out. Emmalyn however, was not convinced. She was pretty good at telling when people were lying and she didn't get the feeling this Klaus guy was. Not in the slightest.

The feeling wouldn't let up and it was driving her crazy. She was positive she had never seen Klaus before, and yet, she did feel as if she was missing something important. Sighing she ran a hand through her hair. It was certainly a weird situation. Not to mention how Caroline and her friends were acting kind of odd. Not at all as she remembered.

For one, her cousin had done a couple of things Emmalyn didn't think were humanly possible. Like move extremely fast, she had also become quite strong. Then there was Bonnie. She was… strange. Last time Emmie was in town Bonnie was perfectly friendly, and yet if Emmalyn had over-heard right, Bonnie told Caroline that Emmie was giving her a bad vibe… whatever that was supposed to mean.

Elena still seemed mostly normal; if you considered the circumstances… as did Jeremy, even if Elena did have some weird sort of love triangle going on with Stefan and Damon. Neither of who she was sure how to take. They both had very distinct personalities and some of the things they said when they thought Emmalyn couldn't hear were… well… strange to say the least. Tyler even acted odd. Like he could do anything and had been freed from some sort of curse. And then there was Matt. Boy was Emmalyn glad of Matt. He seemed stressed but otherwise, he was just as she remembered which was nice. One thing was certain in her mind though. Something odd was going on in this town.

"EMMIE!" Caroline shouted up the stairs. "HURRY UP!"

Sighing, Emmie smiled, despite her unsettling feelings and jogged downstairs. Time to spend some quality time with her cousin.

"So, what's up with all of you?" Emmalyn asked Caroline that afternoon as they made their way into the grill.

Caroline gulped and her eyes shifted nervously, "What do you mean?" She asked looking down.

"Oh come on Care." Emmie said exasperated as she slid into a booth. "I'm English not stupid. Something is up with you lot!"

Caroline sighed and ran her hands through her blonde hair. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, and besides, I wouldn't know where to start."

Rolling her eyes Emmalyn sighed. She loved her cousin very much, but that did not make her any less dramatic. "The beginning may be a good place." She stated dryly.

Caroline gave a slight chuckle although whether it was at Emmie's reply or her own thoughts her cousin couldn't tell. "I don't know where that is anymore Em." She admitted. "Can we just drop it?" She asked.

Emmalyn huffed. She had been hoping for some answers to at least one of her dilemmas. "Fine." Her voice was gruff, trying an easier subject she settled on, "So… what's up in your love life?"

Caroline let her head drop to the table and Emmalyn let out a chuckle. "That bad huh?"

Letting out a slightly hysterical laugh Caroline replied. "Well… let me see. I was dating Damon, he used me. Then Matt who is now not very fond of me for reasons I'd rather not explain. Then Tyler, until he turned into a douche, he went away and I started having feelings for a guy I shouldn't, he came back and now… I really don't know."

Emmalyn smiled at the waiter as he placed her chocolate shake in front of her and sipped on it slowly, mulling the situation over in her head. "So…" She searched for an acceptable question, "Who's the other guy?"

"Promise not to tell?" Caroline lifted her head from the table and her pleading eyes bore into her cousins. It was obvious she needed someone to talk to about this.

"Promise." Emmalyn said sincerely.

"Klaus." Caroline sighed.

"Oh, well what's so bad about him? ... well... yanno apart from the fact you called him a creep the other day."

"Em… if you could only understand the situation then you might get it." Caroline shook her head as she spoke, "But you just wouldn't."

"Personally I don't think you give me enough credit mate." Emmalyn grumbled.

"It's just… so messed up."

It was obvious her cousin found it hard to hide things from her, but as she seemed determined at the moment so Emmalyn gave up.

"I'm sure you'll tell me soon. But for now explain as much as you can."

"Hmmm," Caroline frowned creating a small crease in her forehead. "It's like… Klaus has done some… bad stuff. But… He makes me feel… I don't know. Honestly, I've never felt like he makes me feel before. He says he cares but he can't cause…" She paused seeming to struggle finding the words. "like… he's Klaus. And like I said, he's done bad things, so I shouldn't feel anything nice towards him but he makes me laugh, he makes me happy. And I feel super guilty cause I just shouldn't feel like that." She finished the frown disappearing slightly.

Emmalyn mulled the situation over in her head wondering what to tell her cousin. It was obvious to Emmalyn this was something Caroline needed her advice on as she wouldn't talk to anyone else about it by the sounds of it. But, without knowing the whole situation… She sighed. She had been hoping for something less complicated to talk to her cousin about.

"Sounds to me," she began, "As if you ought to give this Klaus a chance. I mean, sure I dunno what bad crap he's done, but he must have done some good stuff cause otherwise you wouldn't have any feelings like this right? Plus you said he makes you happy, and he makes you laugh. You deserve to do something for yourself for once, maybe you need someone who seems a bit more selfish and well excuse me if I'm entirely wrong but, heartless than the other guys so that he can treat you how you deserve cause lets face it." She took a deep breath. "The 'right' types of guys don't seem to have done it."

Emmalyn wasn't sure if she should be proud but she found she was rather proud of her little speech. However, Caroline didn't look entirely convinced.

"Look," Emmie sighed putting her hand on top of her cousins. "Just think about it yeah?"

Caroline nodded and forced a happy smile on her face. "I suppose it doesn't hurt to try right?"

"Nope." Emmalyn smiled brightly. "And Care, when you're ready to fill me in on whatever deep dark secrets you have…" She giggled here. "I promise I won't run screaming."

Caroline gave her a tight smile in return which made Emmalyn frown, she had a feeling she hit a nerve.

"Care I…" She was cut off by Caroline's phone ringing. Rolling her eyes she began playing with her straw listing to the one sided conversation.

"Damon…, but…, I thought…., Damon…, I can't…, I'm with Emmalyn…, DAMON!" She sounded exasperated now. "Fine." Caroline snapped the phone shut with a loud click.

"Emmie…" Caroline began in an uneasy voice which made the hairs on the back of Emmalyn's neck stand up, as her eyes snapped up to meet her cousins. "You remember that promise you just made?"

Emmalyn nodded, unsure of where exactly this was going. "You may need to keep it sooner than intended, so I'm just making sure."

"Huh?" Emmie found herself totally confused.

"We're all going to pay Klaus and his siblings a visit."

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**Okay again short but this time I felt it needed to end here however mean it may be!**

**I promise the chapters will get longer! **

**Oh and thank you for my reviews! **

**Tell me what you think again yeah? **

**But see told you this story wouldn't leave me alone! Next chapter should be up soon at this rate :P.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! **

**Rue.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Mikaelson Family

"What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now."

– Buddha

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Emmalyn raised her eyebrows sceptically at her cousin. Caroline grabbed her bag and stood up looking impatiently down at Emmalyn who fought hard with herself not to roll her eyes. She was enjoying her chocolate shake and time with her cousin.

"Oh you mean now?" She asked putting on an innocent voice as she took what she knew would be the last sip of her shake if Caroline got her way.

The blonde let out a frustrated groan. "Yes I mean now!" She snapped.

Fighting back the urge to giggle at her cousins dramatics she stood up slowly. Looking slightly placated Caroline quickly walked out of the grill.

Following slowly behind Emmalyn had a large smile on her face as she shook her head. 'Honestly, what are these people gonna kill us if we aren't there in like a minute?' She thought. It all seemed very ridiculous.

As the door swung shut behind her, she spotted Caroline already in the car, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. When Emmalyn saw the serious look her cousin had on her face she decided she would humour her. After all, this was all very over the top, even for Caroline.

The relief when Emmalyn got into the car and they could leave was evident on her cousin's face. They drove along for a few minutes in silence before Emmalyn decided to make an attempt at conversation.

"So…" She searched her head for the right question. "Why are we visiting these people?"

Caroline's grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel and she took a few moments to answer. "I'm not sure."

Emmalyn wanted to scream. Since she got here everything seemed extremely secretive. What was so hard about the questions she was asking? Taking a deep breath she ran her hands through her hair and reminded herself she was going to give Caroline the benefit of the doubt, however much she hated being out of the loop, until Caroline wanted to tell her. She at least owed her cousin that, considering she hadn't made her feel like a child by asking her if she was alright every two minutes. When Emmalyn really thought about it Caroline could have pelted her with sympathy that would make her dwell on her father's death a lot more than she had. Instead Caroline was helping Emmalyn adjust.

After coming to this conclusion Emmalyn tried another question. "Is there anything I should know about Klaus and his siblings?"

She watched Caroline, who seemed to be having an internal debate with herself.

"Well…" Caroline paused and bit her lip. "Klaus can be a bit… scary… I suppose psychotic as well but… he can also be nice when the mood suits him. Elijah, he's very polite and moral but that doesn't mean he can't be a little scary either. Rebekah can be very scary but actually, I could see you getting on with her quite well, she's a bit vain and quite confident but she can be very nice. And Kol…. Well… I haven't spent much time with Kol… but I don't think he's great news. Him and Damon… they… really… well let's say… don't get on."

Emmalyn processed all this information. She came to the conclusion that Caroline was quite fond of Klaus because Emmalyn didn't know anyone she could describe as psychotic but nice. Apart from that she figured Caroline was a little scared of this family. This again, made Emmalyn wonder why they were going to visit.

Caroline sighed as she turned off the car. Emmalyn had been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't even noticed they'd arrived. She stepped out of the car, vaguely registering that Damon, Stefan and Elena were also present, although not anyone else.

Emmalyn followed Caroline until they were all grouped and then they turned to walk to the house. "WOAH!"

Caroline smiled at the gasp her cousin had let out as Damon knocked on the door.

"Fancy aint it?" Emmalyn said grinning at Caroline who merely rolled her eyes at the cheeky smile.

Any conversation that may have been about to take place stopped short as the door was opened.

"Pleasure to have you all, please do come in."

Emmalyn couldn't see who had opened the door but her eyebrows shot up at the posh invitation. She looked over at Caroline wide-eyed. Caroline mouthed 'Elijah' as they crossed the threshold and the door was shut behind them.

Finally Emmalyn caught sight of the man who had opened the door, as they followed him through large house to what she assumed was the sitting room. He was very well groomed and in a suit, which she assumed couldn't be comfortable and made her feel quite underdressed.

The sitting room seemed still quite posh to Emmalyn as she glanced round. She noticed Klaus on the sofa and a blonde girl next to him flicking through a magazine.

'Rebekah' she thought. Which meant if she had followed Elijah in then the young man directly in front of her must be…

"Kol Mikaelson, pleasure." The man drawled charmingly, ignoring everyone else but taking her hand and kissing it.

Emmalyn raised her eyebrows and quickly snatched her hand away. "Eww. Don't touch me, creep."

Kol looked rather shocked she didn't fall for his charm. As Damon chuckled away in the background.

"I don't do smarmy gits." She informed him. "And anyways who does that when they meet someone new? You're a bit full of yourself aint cha?"

Kol's eyes narrowed. "You are very rude."

Emmalyn shrugged. "Hey Klaus." She said peering round the attractive young man in front of her and nodding at his brother. She was rather hoping seeing him again would explain why she felt she knew him. It didn't.

Regardless she felt she preferred him to his cocky brother. Klaus nodded at the girl smirking slightly at her complete refusal to be charmed by Kol.

Emmalyn stepped past Kol and smiled at his other brother. "You must be Elijah." He nodded.

She turned to the female. "So you must be Rebekah?" She asked. The blonde smiled and nodded slightly amused by the smaller girls' antics.

"And this is Emmalyn, so now we're all aquatinted; perhaps we should sit down and talk." Klaus smiled as he said this but the tension in the room rose.

Emmalyn didn't think it was a request. Everyone took a seat in the room except her. She looked one side and then the other it was almost as if a battle line had been drawn. Chuckling to herself slightly she sat on the only remaining chair which, was halfway between one sofa and the other.

She began assessing the room not paying much attention to the conversation until Damon and Kol started arguing.

Damon's blue eyes shined with mirth as he goaded Kol. "You think too much of yourself. Even Emmalyn didn't fall for it."

Kol's jaw tightened and he growled quietly. "Perhaps it would be wise of you to mind your own business."

Emmalyn looked at Kol, she studied him carefully. His words to Damon seemed like some sort of threat and it made her think Damon should probably do as he was told. Kol was slightly smaller than Damon but he still looked quite strong. Especially if the way his t-shirt clung to him was any indication. He looked quite similar to Elijah. They both had dark hair and dark eyes but Kol seemed as if his eyes not only held an extra darkness but he also gave off a different vibe. That wasn't to say that Elijah couldn't be scary but Kol had a definite air of danger and uncertainty. Almost as if he was unstable in some way.

In Emmalyn's opinion he was still however, a cocky dick.

All eyes snapped to her and she looked around nervously. "What?" She asked.

"What did you just call me?" Kol demanded. His eyes bore into hers and there was no way she was imagining the hard edge to his voice now.

Her eyes widened. "Shit. I said that out loud." She muttered.

She sought out her cousin hoping she would find something comforting there but Caroline looked mortified and tense. Emmalyn assessed the situation. 'In for a penny, in for a pound' she thought.

"I believe I called you a cocky dick." She stated a lot more calmly than she felt. Although she wasn't entirely sure why she was so worried… what exactly was Kol going to do? This thought made her feel better.

"SEE!" Damon butted in. "You don't even scare Emmalyn. She isn't impressed by you. So why should I respect you?" He laughed.

Kol glared rather harshly at Damon. "Because you should know better you disrespectful, cocky, young vam-"

"EMMIE!" Caroline shouted over him startling Emmalyn into looking at her. "I forgot to drop off that erm… book my mum wanted. It's in the car you couldn't go do it could you?"

Emmalyn frowned she was certainly missing something.

"Errr… sure…?" She phrased it as a question as Caroline nodded emphatically. "Well erm… nice meeting you…" She paused. "Bye."

Rebekah smiled, Klaus waved and Elijah nodded as she turned away to leave. Kol didn't take his eyes off Damon.

As soon as Emmalyn got in the car and began to drive away she felt the tension drip out of her body. "I woulda liked to hear the end of that." She grumbled. "Could have been a pretty good fight."

Still as Emmalyn stopped outside the Mystic Falls police station and picked up the sappy teen novel she highly doubted her Aunt wanted she couldn't shake the feeling that, that would not be the last time she encountered the Mikaelsons.

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**So what did you think? **

**It didn't go quite how I planned as I was planning more interaction between Emmalyn and the originals but the characters kinda ran away with me. **

**Anyways thank you for the awesome reviews :) and please keep them coming. **

**I'd love to know what you think! **

**And hopefully the next chapter should be up soon!**

**Rue.**


	4. Chapter 3: Kol

**I apologise for not updating in so long, I have been working hard on getting into university and haven't had much time. Also decided to change things a bit. Hope this chapter makes up for it though. Not the longest but you do learn a bit about Emmie's past. **

* * *

_One of the most time-consuming things to have is an enemy – E.B. White_

* * *

Emmalyn was quite annoyed with her aunt. In some ways she suspected it was because she wasn't expecting her aunt to be 'in' on whatever the hell it was that was going on around here. She also did not appreciate being so blatantly lied to.

Her aunt had most definitely been surprised when Emmalyn had turned up at the police station holding the sappy teen novel Caroline had said she so desperately wanted. So the fake smile that made its way onto her face and the empty thanks had been most unwelcome, and come to mention it extremely frustrating.

Huffing Emmalyn trudged further into the woods finding more and more anger filling her the more she thought about it. Looking up, instead of at her feet, which Emmalyn hadn't done for a while, she came to the conclusion she was lost.

"Trees, trees, and more trees." With a long sigh she plopped onto the ground, watching the encroaching darkness around her. "Well, this is fan-bloody-tastic."

A dejected look filled Emmalyn's features, she was always good at getting herself into trouble. The air seemed to be getting colder and it was obvious there was no-one around to help her out of this mess. With a flicker of hope Emmalyn pulled her phone from her pocket.

"Come on, come on." She muttered holding it high in the air fruitlessly trying to find some service.

"Yes, yes!" She yelled as a bar appeared indicating she would be able to call for help.

"NOOOO!" She moaned, as, with a feeble beep, her phone died. "Oh poop."

A sudden gust of wind blew an extremely icy blast across Emmalyn knocking her flat, with a small 'oof' sound the air was knocked from her lungs and she became unconscious.

* * *

"_Emmalyn, Emmalyn, Emmie come on." The male voice huffed. "I didn't mean it." _

_Emmalyn was in a strange dress, in a dense patch of woods. She huffed to herself picking at her long purple dress. Maybe she had been wrong, Bekah had never given her any reason to doubt her before and she said Kol really did care. Maybe just maybe Kol was trying to protect her. _

_But why? The little voice in the back of her head had a point, why not Elijah, or Nik or even Finn would make more sense. But Kol, well Emmalyn and Kol had a slightly volatile relationship to say the least. _

_Kol could be sweet, considerate and undeniably loveable but he could also be arrogant and picky, nasty and mean and awful. _

_Bekah told Emmalyn it was because he cared about her. Emmalyn thought he was a bit of an arse. What it was about her she didn't know but Kol knew how to push her buttons. He didn't seem to care for her as much as the rest of the Mikaelson family, or at all really. He never paid her an ounce of attention unless it was to be unhelpful, hindering or mean, and yet the one time another boy had shown an ounce of interest in her, he hit him. Now seriously what was that all about?_

_Emmalyn scoffed as she shifted her hair over her right shoulder and then she realised her mistake. _

_Kol walked through the dense patch of trees she'd hidden herself in and stood right behind her. Emmalyn didn't need to see him she could feel him. _

"_Emmie, I'm sorry. Come on, I didn't mean to." As much as she hated to admit it Emmalyn was sure she could hear regret in his voice. For what though she wasn't sure. _

"_Oh yes Kol, I'm sure your arm just acted of its own accord when it broke Nathanial's nose and your other arm when you hit him again." Emmalyn replied scathingly. " It seems so silly of me to think otherwise." _

_Kol sucked in a deep breath, "Well no, it didn't." He replied. "But..." _

_Emmalyn spun round the anger bubbling away in her gut making her feel full of hot fire. _

"_But what Kol? But you just felt the need to punch him huh?" She shouted feeling oddly out of control and emotional._

"_He was going to hurt you." Kol replied through clenched teeth. _

"_And you just know that do you?" Emmalyn seethed. "Well I'll have you know Kol Mikealson that boy has never been anything but nice to me and the only person that hurt me tonight was you." _

_Emmalyn could feel the salty tears running down her cheeks and catching on her lips. Her tongue darted out and licked them away. Kol's eyes flickered over Emmalyn's shaking body and he sighed, running a hand through his already ruffled hair. His chocolate eyes seemed to burn into her leaving a hot trail in their wake. _

"_That…" He muttered. "That was never my intention." _

_Kol stepped forward and reached his hand out wiping the tears on Emmalyn's face away. Now Emmalyn was really confused. Kol had never been this nice to her before. The boy was an enigma if there ever was one. _

"_I… I care about you Emmalyn…" He stopped and locked his eyes with hers. "Very much." _

_As soon as the words left his lips he closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her small frame. Emmalyn leaned her head on his hard chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. She wasn't sure why but she felt oddly secure in his arms, oddly whole. _

"_You don't act like it." She murmured. _

"_Emmalyn…" Kol sighed and pressed his lips warmly and firmly to her head. "I'm not a very good person. I'm spontaneous and awful and downright mean sometimes." _

_He stopped and pressed another soft kiss to the top of her head. "And you deserve so much more than that, but I can't watch you with anyone else Emmalyn, I'm selfish and manipulative and evil, but I care very much for you. So much I can see it becoming much more, I don't deserve you at all but I want you." _

_Emmalyn listened to Kol talk, enjoying the rumbling in his chest against her cheek as he did. _

"_I'm not a nice person Emmalyn, I'm not even nice to you and my family most of the time and I care for all of you. But I cannot watch another man fawning over you like that. I want to be the one to make you happy. I don't care if that's selfish and awful I want it. And," He added in a much darker tone "I always get what I want, nobody takes my things." _

_Emmalyn pulled herself harshly from Kol's embrace, trying to ignore the fleeting feeling of the warmth and security leaving her as she did so. _

"_I am not yours Kol. Maybe next time when you feel the need to defend something of yours you should make the effort to ensure it is indeed yours first." _

_And with one last look at Kol she spun around and stormed off through the woods back towards the village._

* * *

With a rough gasp Emmalyn sat up. Her spot in the woods was the exact place she'd been in the... the what? What was that? It wasn't a dream of that she was sure. It most certainly wasn't a dream. But then what was it? She knew what she thought it was, but… that wasn't possible was it? How could she have memories of Kol? She'd never met him before. Unless of course Klaus was right, but then what were they wearing?

Emmalyn let out a small scream of frustration. It was so confusing and as for the Mikealson's the real ones the family she met with Caroline earlier that day, she thought they were meant to be her enemies. Or at least her cousin's enemies, but if what she had seen was a memory then they weren't her enemies.

The sound of a snapping twig to her right caught her attention. She stood up quickly feeling slightly dizzy but shook it off. This might be someone who could help her. Kol stepped out of the trees. So much for help she thought and then Emmalyn frowned. She didn't like this Kol. Not at all. But then she thought about her memory Kol, now him she thought she might have liked. In the memory she thought he could be a lot of horrible things, and arrogant had been one of them, but she also thought he could be nice and sweet and caring.

Frowning Emmalyn decided having enemies was too time consuming, nobody liked everything about their friends, maybe she could be friends with the Mikealson's. Caroline and her friends wouldn't like that though but it was awful to not give them a chance because of what others thought. At that moment she decided she was going to give the whole Mikealson family a chance.

And anyway Emmalyn thought as she took a step towards Kol, she wanted to know what exactly that memory was about.

"You, you don't happen to know a way out of here do you?" She asked in a small, rather shaky voice, she noted with disgust.

"I do, but I don't know why I should help you." Kol replied rather calmly. His voice sent shivers down Emmalyn's spine.

He didn't sound pleased, and yet she was positive he wasn't going to hurt her. Not she had any reason to fear him hurting her more than anyone else she thought. But then she remembered the look in his eyes when he was arguing with Damon. Maybe she did. It was all so confusing. Either way Emmalyn didn't get the feeling he had bad intentions towards her. Even if perhaps he should, she'd been downright rude and rather awful to him earlier.

"Look…" Emmalyn snapped in a much stronger voice than before. "You don't like me, I get it. I can't say I'm too fond of you either, but…" She paused and Kol looked mildly interested. "It's too time-consuming to be making enemies. Especially with no reason, so I'm not saying we become besties or anything stupid like that. But I'm willing to give being civil a try with you."

Kol smirked. "I like the fire in you. It's extremely amusing, rather endearing and oddly comforting. Honest is always good. Ok." He agreed, "Well this way then."

And with that he began walking in the direction he had come. Emmalyn stood stock still a little surprised he had agreed so easily.

"Are you coming or not?" Kol yelled. His brown eyes were running critically over Emmalyn who jumped at the sound of his voice and locked gazes with him.

"Er, yes yes." She replied hurriedly.

"Good."

If she didn't know any better she would say that smirk was almost a smile, but even in her memory she didn't get the impression Kol smiled much.

"You haven't changed at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She panted now, hurrying after him.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He said tapping the side of his nose as she reached him, vaguely she noticed they were now leaving the woods and coming back onto the streets of Mystic Falls.

"Don't be cryptic Kol, it's not very nice." Emmalyn snapped her eyes flashing.

Kol gave her an amused look, "I didn't agree to nice, I agreed to civil." He reminded her, his eyes shining with mischief.

Emmalyn found herself smiling despite her annoyance. "Touché Mr Mikealson, Touché."

He shook his head at her and gestured behind her. Emmalyn turned around and found herself stood outside Caroline's house. Well her house now too she mused. Funny, I don't remember that short-cut.

"Thanks, you didn't have to…" But Emmalyn stopped for when she turned around Kol was gone.

"How odd."

* * *

**Again sorry for updating for so long, it was awful of me. If any of you still have any interest in this story. Then please do review. I really want to know what you think. It was re-reading reviews which inspired me to write another chapter. **


	5. Chapter 4: Memories

_Right now I'm having amnesia and __déjà __vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before. – Steven Wright_

* * *

Emmalyn found herself rather confused that night.

'How did Kol get me to my house so fast? If there was such a fast way surely Caroline would have known? Surely she would have told me before?'

It was a frustrating thought which annoyed her further when Caroline asked where the car was. Still at the police station she realised. How annoying, Care was mighty protective of her car and Emmalyn didn't feel like having an argument.

Caroline however, looked oddly relieved.

"That's fine Emmie, I'll go with mum in the morning and pick it up. I'm meeting Bonnie and Elena at the grill anyway." She said with a dismissive wave of her hand before smiling brightly at Emmalyn, and flouncing into her room.

Shaking her head and frowning slightly at her cousins' strange behaviour Emmalyn quickly shuffled into her room. It had been quite a tiring day and very odd.

'Although,' Emmalyn mused to herself, as she began to fall asleep. 'everything's been odd since I've moved to Mystic Falls.'

* * *

_Emmalyn was in a beautiful clearing. A dense patch of trees encircled a wide open space with a clear blue lake at the bottom and a large open patch of grass at the top. The sun was glinting off the surface of the lake, bathing the whole clearing in golden hues. Emmalyn's hair was shimmering and she felt very comfortable and warm. This dress was very nice and soft, it was a dark purple colour which really set off her eyes. _

_A soft tinkling laugh sounded from Emmalyn's right and she turned her head feeling herself smiling as she did so. She was sitting at the base of a large weeping willow tree quite close to the lake and Bekah was sat to her right. _

"_Sometimes, I really think we may misjudge my brothers' intelligence levels." She said smiling. _

_Rebekah's blue eyes were shining with laughter and a large happy smile was spread across her face. _

_Emmalyn looked around, her hair fanning out behind her as she moved quite quickly. Kol was stood with a rather serene look on his face, well what Emmalyn could see of it anyway considering she was sat slightly behind his position and could only see the side of his face. He was right down by the lake's edge and standing to the left of Emmalyn and Rebekah's position. _

'_He actually looks calm… and perhaps even happy.' Emmalyn thought as she observed him looking out over the lake. _

_Craning her neck and twisting the upper-half of her body slightly, Emmalyn could see Niklaus who was sat further back in the clearing, his back against a large oak tree, sketching. _

'_Nothing unusual or unintelligent there.' She thought. _

_As she twisted entirely round she could however, see exactly what Rebekah was talking about. Rebekah's oldest brothers Finn and Elijah were practising their sword fighting with long thin sticks. _

"_En Guard." Elijah yelled stepping into the appropriate fighting position. _

"_I will slay you foul beast!" Finn replied with just as much vigour, brandishing his own 'sword'._

_Emmalyn threw her head back laughing as she watched them fighting, Finn's stick snapped making his 'sword' more like a 'dagger' it was quite amusing watching them. They both had large bright grins stretched over their faces as they jabbed and swung the sticks. _

_Emmalyn felt somebody poking her in the shoulder so she turned back around to see Bekah smiling conspiratorially, with her finger over her lips in a 'shushing' motion. Emmalyn frowned slightly but nodded despite her confusion. Rebekah's grin grew, if that was even possible, and she pointed at Kol before miming shoving him into the lake. _

_Emmalyn's eyes widened as she realised what Bekah's plan was and she nodded eyes shining in excitement. She was so in. _

_Quietly as they possibly could Emmalyn and Rebekah stood up and crept up behind Kol. They both put their hands out before them and with one mighty shove Kol went splashing into the lake. Bursting out in laughter Emmalyn clutched her side for support as Bekah rolled on the ground behind her, tears making their way down her face. _

_Finn and Elijah had stopped fighting and even Nik had looked up over the top of his drawings. All of them were laughing and sniggering. Then everything went silent. _

_Emmalyn was still wheezing from her laughter as she straightened up to see what had made them all go quiet, and then she noticed. Kol. _

_Kol had resurfaced from the lake dripping from head to toe and he did not look amused. Oh, dear. _

_Emmalyn tried to move backwards but Kol was much too fast for her, in one swift motion he launched forwards and grasped her around the waist. Emmalyn was unceremoniously flung over Kol's shoulder; he strode into the middle of the lake and flung Emmalyn off. Or, well, attempted to. Emmalyn in her panic grasped Kol's shoulders and as she went down, so did he. _

_Coughing and spluttering with laughter Kol and Emmalyn resurfaced a few seconds later. Emmalyn's sparkling blue eyes were locked on Kol's shining brown one's which were shimmering with amusement. When their giggles died down a little Kol closed the minuscule distance between them. _

"_You've got some lake moss. Right…" He reached his left hand forwards, "there." He finished as he gently plucked it out of Emmalyn's hair. _

"_Thanks." She softly murmured as she placed her hands on his chest. His came to rest gently on her waist. _

_Emmie was vaguely aware of the smiling Elijah and Finn, the grinning Nik and the 'awwing' Bekah but she found she had eyes only for Kol. _

_They may have been standing like that for seconds, minutes, maybe hours, Emmalyn couldn't have told you but the moment was suddenly broken as Bekah shifted her foot and a twig snapped._

_Kol cleared his throat and stepped back and Emmalyn blushed and looked down. Kol turned to look at Bekah. _

"_Your turn!" He yelled and began to race towards her. _

_Bekah shrieked and tried to run the other way, unfortunately for her it was towards Elijah and Finn. Elijah reached out as Bekah went to run past and caught hold of her. _

"_Kol make haste!" _

"_Nooo! Elijah you're meant to be on my side!" Bekah whined. _

"_Do not fret dear maiden, I shall save you from this fearsome beast!" Finn announced comically, as he darted forwards with his short 'dagger' stick. _

_The four siblings erupted into giggles and laughter. Often shouting random battle cries or words as Emmalyn made her way to Nik. It seemed the safest place if she wanted to dry off. Very unceremoniously Emmalyn plopped down beside Nik. _

"_Hi." She said brightly. _

_Nik looked her over an amused grin on his face. "Hello Emmalyn, and what can I do for you?" He asked. _

"_What are you sketching?" She asked. "Can I see?" She was peering inquisitively at the parchments as if she would be able to see through the rolls beside her. _

_Nik let out a chuckle; he picked up the first roll. It was a wonderful picture of Elijah and Finn attempting to 'sword fight'. She nodded smiling. _

"_You my dear friend are extremely talented." _

_Nik smiled. Picking up the second roll he flattened it once more and held it in front of Emmalyn, she did not want to ruin it with her wet hands. Emmie suddenly found herself speechless. _

"_Nik, I… wow." She muttered. _

_It was a picture of Rebekah and herself under the weeping willow tree, both with large smiles on their faces while they basked in the sunshine. It was not one bit short of amazing; he'd got the expressions just right and the sparkle in their eyes. _

_The last, which he was still adding the finishing touches to, was a sketch of her and Kol, their moment in the lake. It looked so intimate and they both looked so happy. Emmalyn couldn't bear the thought of not being able to see them whenever she wanted, and yet she didn't want Nik to have to part with them. _

"_Nik." She said her tone laced with unspoken implications. _

"_Hmm." He replied glancing at her. _

"_Promise me… promise me you'll never get rid of these. That whenever I want to all I have to do is ask and you'll show me them." _

_Emmalyn stared up at Nik for a few seconds with wide pleading eyes. Nik smiled a genuine smile. _

"_Emmie, for you, I promise. Merely find me and I will produce them at any time." _

_Emmalyn giggled. "Even if I'm long gone you'll still have them then?" _

_Nik laughed, "Just on the off chance we meet once again, I shall." _

_Sharing a secretive smile both went back to their separate activities, Nik his sketching and Emmalyn basking in the warm glow of the sunlight while watching her friends' antics. _

"_Brothers! Sister! Emmalyn!" The yell was heard a second before the young boy burst into the clearing. _

"_Henrik, where have you been brother?" Elijah questioned. _

_Henrik shook his black hair and smiled up at his brother, his eyes conveying his youthful innocence. _

"_Helping mother and she says dinner's ready. Oh and Emmalyn," He turned to face her his smile dropping off his sweet face. "Your fathers back… he's looking for you." _

_Emmalyn awoke with a start but not before she had time to see the hardening of everyone's eyes and feel her own stomach plummet with ice cold dread._

* * *

'What was all that about?' Emmalyn mused that morning as she got dressed. She could remember that… dream…memory…as clearly as she could remember her day yesterday.

'What about my father?' She thought. Emmalyn was certain that the boy, Henrik, had been referring to her father, her real, true life father. She was also fairly sure he was a nasty piece of work, no one in her memory seemed remotely pleased to hear of his return. As for Emmie, well. She had never felt so terrified in her entire life of that she was sure. But that wasn't possible her father…

'Her father what?' Emmalyn racked her brains. She realised she couldn't remember one ounce of information about her real father.

He died of cancer. He loved her. She was upset but going to be fine rather quickly.

It all sounded like something she had been told. Hmmm, and then there were the scars marring her arms, back, legs and stomach. She suddenly realised she didn't have the foggiest idea of how she got them. She didn't even think she'd noticed them before that dream.

Now this had really gone too far. In her anger Emmalyn struggled to recall her cousins whereabouts. The Grille. Right that was where she was headed then. Emmie wasn't quite sure how Care could have anything to do with this but she was certain she did.

'How could she make me forget though?' That was what occupied her thoughts all the way to The Grille. How could Caroline possibly make Emmalyn forget none of this made sense.

Storming in Emmalyn marched over to her cousin's table which, she noted, occupied not only Caroline and her friends but also the Mikaelsons' although, not Finn and Henrik. If they even existed that was. Emmalyn was referring to dreams for facts here.

Slamming her hands down on the counter-top in front of Caroline, Emmalyn fixed her cousin with her hardest glare.

"What was my father like?" She demanded.

"I…Why would you ask that?" Caroline mumbled.

"Why won't you answer the question?" Emmalyn countered.

Caroline bit her lip.

"Funny thing is Caroline, when I woke up this morning I realised I have a LOT of scars. Thing is I don't remember getting any scars, and I also don't remember my father. You've been acting shifty the whole time since I moved here. That's fine too. We're all entitled to secrets, but keeping secrets about me from me. No. Something strange is going on here. What did you do?!"

Caroline looked thoroughly put out. "I….nothing. How ridiculous. How could you possibly think I could have done anything?!"

It was obvious to Emmalyn that Caroline was not going to tell her what she needed to know. Emmalyn straightened up and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Now I'm crazy eh?" She tutted and shook her head. "Fine."

Turning to the Mikealson half of the table she smiled.

"Hi Kol, thanks for last night." There were gasps on Caroline's side of the table.

"Hi Bekah, Elijah." She nodded and smiled at each sibling.

Both looked slightly shocked at the use of Rebekah's nickname.

"Hi Nik." Gasps all round this time. "I don't know if I'm crazy here I might well be." She said shooting a glare at her cousin. "But if I'm not I want to see a couple of sketches you did, you know the one's right? The day at the lake."

The look of comprehension dawning on all of the Mikealson's faces was enough of an answer for Emmalyn.

"Not crazy then she muttered." As Klaus, Nik, whoever, reached into his pocket and withdrew the drawings.

Taking the old paper Emmalyn handed them extremely carefully. They matched those in her dream exactly. With a faint huff of shock she passed them back.

"I need to sit down." She muttered, grabbing a chair from another table and pulling it up at the end of the table.

"So who wants to explain?" She asked.

Caroline, looking quite unconvincing replied, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"If you don't tell her we will explain fully as we possibly can!" Rebekah replied scathingly. "How dare you take those memories? They make her who she is! And I want my best friend back!"

"You're not telling her anything Barbie Klaus." Damon butted in.

"I suggest you watch your tongue Salvatore." There it was again. The dark look in Kol's eyes.

"I believe you are mistaken Damon." Elijah replied polite as ever.

"We shall tell her all we can and you certainly will not interfere." Nik replied threateningly.

Caroline went to butt in again but was stopped by Kol. He got up and offered his hand to Emmalyn. "Come we have a lot to talk about."

With one last, disbelieving and upset look in Caroline's direction, Emmalyn took Kol's hand and left The Grille.

* * *

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**Let me know. Tried to make up for a year of no updates! **

**Hope you like it? **

**Rue.**


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